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Westwater March 2012 <2,000 cfs

Had another great run on Westwater this weekend. It was the lowest level that anybody in our party had seen, under 2,000 cfs, a lot of new rocks and obstacles, skinny spots to get through.

We camped at Miner's Cabin on Saturday night before the rapids. We caught a bit of the meteor shower Friday and Saturday night.

Skull Rapid was interesting. @Alex went left, but 3 other boats went on the right side of the skull rock and had a bit of trouble. Nobody flipped but everybody who went right surfed the rapid until somebody knocked them out of there, a boat got sideways, driver lost the oars and a passenger got whacked in the head with it (no helmet) but no serious injuries.

And of course the flat water at the end, what is it, 6 miles? Very flat, and the wind would keep us still or even blow us back upstream if we weren't rowing. We barged the boats all together, and being the only sober adult on the trip, I did most of the rowing.

Our buddy Jim who was with us on Lodore was the Ranger, and we ran into more people we've rafted with at the take out in Cisco.

Looks like it was a great time - Wait a minute, your out on the water of course it was a great time

I wonder if that was your group I saw Saturday Morning. I was crossing the bridge on the Colorado river on Hwy 95 heading towards North Wash at about 9:30 in the morning. I saw two sets of groups coming down the river with what looked like about 3-4 boats each all tethered together. I let out a couple of honks on my horn to say hi.

I wonder if that was your group I saw Saturday Morning. I was crossing the bridge on the Colorado river on Hwy 95 heading towards North Wash at about 9:30 in the morning. I saw two sets of groups coming down the river with what looked like about 3-4 boats each all tethered together. I let out a couple of honks on my horn to say hi.

Skull Rapid, you'll see we went left around razor rock, most of our party went right and almost got into trouble. Only got one broken oar and a bumped head out of it though. You might have to view it in full screen and in HD since the camera is so far away:

If it works it works. Every drysuit will leak at the neck gasket if the waves are big enough.

I bought a Palm drysuit a year ago. Its noticeable warmer than many and I sweat more in it when its 70+. Its also a ton beefier than most. Likely still gonna use it for our upcoming May trip as its looking like we will be in duckies, though we are still debating on which river to boat.

Here's a video from one of the passengers going down the RIGHT hand side of skull rock, 1 of the 3 boats

At first I thought the oar snapped but it just popped out. This gives an excellent view of Skull rock right up close as they're stuck surfing the hole as the next 2 boats come by. Also on the third boat, green Maravia, it's a demonstration of why passengers should wear helmets. It's not from flipping, it's from the oars.

I waited for permission to post this

The rapid run begins at 0:54, first spin at 1:12, hits the wall at 1:20, Phil sneaks by without incident at 1:39 3rd boat gets stuck right on skull rock at 2:18, and oar blow to the head at 2:27 (ouch). She's ok though but it was quite the knock.

The green Maravia ended up breaking a spare oar.

Credit to Dylan for the footage, I'm extremely jealous of it. I asked Alex if he could pull this stunt next time so I could film it

There are ton of rivers we can still run up north this May, which is where we are mostly looking. Tons of water up in OR, WA, ID and NorCal. That said, because of some extenuating circumstances with my normal rafting partner, a few of us are actually more likely to throw our duckies in for a 5 day lower Owyhee run. Still waiting to find out (friend has some medical issues we are waiting on reports for).

Really tempted to throw in for an early May Cataract. A couple of us are planning on a baby boat midweek Westwater run later in the summer. That right slot on Skull looks like it could be fun in the proper boat.